


Purple

by LittleMissWolfie



Series: Shidge Week 2016 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female pronouns for Pidge, Gen, Shidge Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 10:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8099479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissWolfie/pseuds/LittleMissWolfie
Summary: Katie Holt's first crush.





	

Katie is eleven when she meets the boy she wants to marry.

Takashi Shirogane, or “Shiro,” as Matt calls him, is her older brother’s best friend. Matt brings him home for his birthday dinner and Katie can’t look at him without blushing. His skin looks a little funny (her daddy says it’s because he’s Japanese) but his eyes are really pretty and his voice is warm and he smiles the entire meal. After dinner she races to the little workshop her daddy built for her behind the house to tinker and clear her mind.

She’s halfway through dismantling an old vacuum cleaner (her momma called it a “Roomba” when Katie presented it to her) she found at a thrift shop when Takashi’s voice startles her. “What are you doing?” he asks curiously, and she hears his footsteps getting closer.

Katie keeps her eyes on the mangled corpse of the Roomba, because if she looks up and sees his face she’ll start stuttering. “I’m trying to figure out how this thing worked,” she answers with a violent jerk of her wrench. The resulting noise startles Takashi, who backs away. “It’s an old vacuum cleaner that moved around on its own.”

“Vacuums today do that, though.” He’s suddenly beside her, looking down at the project inquisitively. 

“This one’s  _ different, _ though!” With that, she focuses completely on tearing the little machine apart, and she can almost forget Takashi’s presence next to her, his shoulder brushing hers and his warm breath ghosting over her upper arms.

~

She sees Takashi a week later when her father brings her to the Garrison for the day. She knew this could happen, so she’s wearing a cute purple dress and her hair’s in a pretty French braid. At lunch, she asks her father if they’re allowed to eat with the cadets.

Matt’s face lights up when he sees her and he pulls her into a hug. She and her big brother have always been very close, even for siblings, so it’s no wonder he’s so excited to see her. Takashi, for his part, smiles at her and says, “You look very nice today, Katie,” and her ears go red and her heart’s beating a million miles a minute. “Purple’s my favorite color, you know.”

Matt takes the opportunity to launch into a heated discussion about how colors affect emotions, and, silently, Katie decides purple is her favorite color, too.

~

The next time she _meets_ Takashi, she’s not longer Katie Holt. She’s Pidge Gunderson, and she doesn’t wear purple, and she calls him Shiro, because if she can’t be Katie, he can’t be Takashi. And she doesn't dream of marrying him anymore, because there's a war to fight, and she doesn't have time for silly girlish notions of love and happy endings.


End file.
